I found this amazing recap of Lance Armstrong's 2nd place at the Ironman Panama 70.3 by Ray Fauteux on the examiner.com
It was a big day for the triathlon community and Lance Armstrong in the inaugural running of Ironman Panama 70.3.
There was plenty of speculation about how the 41-year-old would do in his first race as a pro, but at least two things were certain as the starting gun sounded to begin the point-to-point swim in the warm waters of the Pacific.
It was pretty certain that Lance would be close to the top after the swim as he has a strong swimming background and there was no doubt he would make quite an impact out on the 56-mile bike course.
However nobody was quite sure how he would hold up with all the much younger speedsters out on the run course.
THE SWIM
Lance came out with a large pack and was 34 seconds behind the leader Matty Reed. As the pro men left the bike transiton, Lance was sitting in 11th spot.
His past history as a competitive swimmer kept him in close contact with all the major players in the race.
THE BIKE
As expected Lance made a move on the bike course and at the 15k mark had moved from 11th to 5th place.
At the half-way point he made his move toward the leader and soon he was riding at the front of the main chase pack along with Chris Lieto, but it was still Billard Betrand of France leading the way as the cyclists headed into Panama City and the bike/run transition.
Very near transition Chris Lieto takes the lead with Lance right behind him waiting to pounce as Betrand slips to third.
At this point it was certainly shaping up to be an interesting run.
THE RUN
As the first pros reached the run transition area the top four were Chris Lieto, Lance Armstrong 6 seconds back, Bertrand Billard 9 seconds back, and Oscar Galindez 1:29 off the pace.
At 2k into the run Chris Lieto looks very strong in the lead and Lance Armstrong is 10 seconds back with Billard close to Lance in 3rd spot.
At the four mile mark Lance is just 5 seconds off the front and Chris Lieto, but Oscar Galindez and Bevan Docherty are making a charge and are just 1:39 and 2:46 behind.
Lance! Didn't know you could run so fast! In the blink of an eye Lance is leading Ironman Panama 70.3 by 26 seconds.
There is a very good possibility that Lance used up far less of his energy reserves on the bike course as opposed to the other cyclists.
If that's the case, it might just be next to impossible to catch him at this point.
It really appears that Lance will be either 1st or 2nd in Ironman Panama 70.3 and it all hinges on how much Bevan Docherty has left in the tank as he closes to within 1:15 of Lance Armstrong.
All the other main contenders have fallen off the pace. Either way it will be a sensational result for Lance.
What a finish it's going to be as Lance holds a 55 second lead over Docherty with just 4 miles to go. Apparenty it's a media frenzy at the finish line that rivals Kona.
Small wonder. This is one of the greatest moments in the history of the sport.
In order to catch Lance, Bevan will have to run about 15 seconds per mile faster and that's asking a lot of even this great runner.
45 seconds now.
Lance hanging tough and Bevan only made up 10 seconds and that most likely will not be enough but in the last few miles Docherty picks to be really picking up the pace.
A race for the ages. This will be very close.
Bevan Docherty wins Ironman Panama 70.3 2012!
Lance Armstrong finishes second in an incredible race.Continue reading on Examiner.com Lance Armstrong Second Ironman Panama 70.3 - Canada Endurance Sports Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/endurance-sports-in-canada/lance-armstrong-races-well-ironman-panama-70-3#ixzz1mCgwZJTw
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